In My Kitchen: September 2014

It’s once again time for In My Kitchen and as per usual this is a collection of things from the past month — as seen over on Instagram — in loosely interpreted categories and no particular order.

As always I’m linking up with Celia for IMK and this month is overrun with goodies experienced on or picked up during my trip earlier this month. I suggest you make a cup of tea for this — go on, I’ll wait — it’s a big one, full of mini-rants and a severe (probably inappropriate) over-use of parenthesis.

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The prop addiction is strong in this one

Died over these tiny cups (made by a potter in Arizona) that I drank tea from for hours. At $16 a pop I didn’t bring any home but am still pinning for the animal stripe one… and the spot one… and the, hell all of them.

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Loved this glass at little bro’s house — apparently from Anthropology. Perfect for tea, did not put it in my bag, should have.

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I do adore Weck Jars and while I can get a few in Sydney I simply couldn’t pass up the tall cylinders, the little tulip and two bitty jars…

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Gorgeous pressies from my sister-in-law including a porcelain berry container and a little egg cup that fits into the hole on the board. Don’t blame me if you want to buy everything that Heirloom Home & Studio makes.

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The glass edition.

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The cutter edition.

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The round things edition. Note the 1926 stamped patent mark, stationary centre, eggbeater. Also, bought mum new spoons so I could take hers.

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The shiny things edition, part 1.

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The shiny things edition, part 2 – the tarnish.

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Needless to say my luggage was much heavier going home than it was going over. This was the only causality… I sobbed. A friend has invited me ’round for a crafternoon to fix it with gold. Stay tuned.

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Amongst refurbishing a council cleanup chair and numerous other bits and pieces, there’s an old prop or two (I’m looking at you cute but brand imprinted teapot) that are bound to benefit from a lick of Annie Sloan* paint. I’m all Mr Burns steepled fingers in excitement. Excellllent.

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Seriously, how sexy is this Opinel knife!? The blade folds into the handle and it’s sharp as sin. From the reaction on Instagram I’m way behind on being excited about it.

Hey, did you know it’s bad luck to gift someone a knife? Apparently it is symbolic of severing the relationship. I learned it years ago when we had someone give us a voucher for our wedding instead of buying us the knife block we registered for, I guess that Swiss Army Knife I bought in Switzerland for an ex-boyfriend was the beginning of the end of that relationship (it was actually the middle of a very long end but who’s counting – ha!).

Interestingly RJ bought me a pocket knife (before the wedding) many years ago and we lost it on the next trip we took — which was very frustrating at the time but I’ve since taken it as a good omen. Annnnnyway, a client of mine gave me this then insisted that I give him a coin as payment, everybody wins, and I still refuse to walk under ladders.

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Food finds & the travelling circus

Remember last month when I mentioned the Key Limes and jicama I grabbed the minute we landed in Phoenix? I neglected to mention the individual watermelon I had to buy, simply because INDIVIDUAL WATERMELON.

Anyway, this is an individual watermelon.

I want all watermelons be this tiny and sweet always. The bar has been set. Also, never underestimate the power of a plastic spoon when watermelon is on the line.

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I do love my morning oats and staying in a hotel room simply makes the process a touch more interesting…

In Sedona mum and I got some oats from the bulk bin of Whole Foods (in Queensland I took a little baggie with oats and cinnamon with me). A paper coffee cup and some boiling water later — simply stir and cover until absorbed — and there you have it.

Fruit gets cut with a plastic knife from the airport and while a spoon is recommended for eating, a fork does the job just fine too.

Someone on Instagram told me I should pack a camping bowl and cutlery in my luggage to not be so wasteful, don’t even get me started.

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Half a slice of fabulous raw chocolate cake from ChocolaTree in Sedona, rationed over a day or two thanks to the hotel room fridge. Mom had her half for breakfast, it’s a hereditary habit, obviously.

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Love this Kombucha, love, love, love. Tried a few other flavours but the straight ginger was my favourite. No sugar added after brewing either. Any recommendations for a good one in Australia? Or do I need to start making my own?

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Pine nuts in their shells — who knew. These little things grow in pine cones (pennies starting to drop yet?) and all they need is a tap with the side of a jar then pull off the shell. Do that a million times and you might have a quarter cup or so. Ha! No wonder they are so expensive…

Miscellaneous pub trivia side-note — there are over 100 kinds of pine nuts but only about 25 are edible (the inedible ones are the cause of that pine-mouth issue).

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Buttery Milk Oolong Tea by Leaf Lounge (based in Flagstaff Arizona) and Fortina raw chocolates (based in Sedona) — both seriously divine.

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Remember nearly two years ago when I shared my Creamed Coconut equals Coconut Butter without the expensive price tag discovery? Found it in America-land too for $2.50.

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About three hours into a seven hour drive between Philadelphia and the farm mom mentioned Root Beer Floats. I wasn’t able to stop thinking about them until I fixed the fix…

Lucky I discovered insanely good, chemical-free, Virgil’s Micro Brewed Root Beer, and then proceeded to pour it over real vanilla ice cream, and then my eyes rolled back in my head. Let’s not talk about sugar on this one…

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I’ve used Pure Harvest* rice syrup and almond milk for ages but had no idea they make dozens of products. Looking forward to trying the tahini once the other jar in my fridge is gone.

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I have a soft spot for native Australian bush tucker so was quite pleased when these little taster packets of Wattle Seed and spicy Native Spice from Australian Wild* the showed up in the post.

Marketing hat / my two cents interlude — with all the high-pressure PR out there these days a simple no ask, no pretend, no faux we love you, just “this is what we are doing, we’d like you to experience it” approach is wonderfully refreshing. That said, a PR blast is best done when the Kickstarter campaign has launched, not when it’s coming soon, or all your awareness is gone before your activity starts… (in other news not sure when the Kickstarter is launching)

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Green Smoothies are everywhere these days, however I recon this new book from Fern Green (yes, really) has a few even the most devout fan hasn’t considered. For starters there are over 60 recipes — both smoothies (everything blended, pulp left in for consumption) and juices (everything juiced, pulp removed by juicer) plus ‘booster shots’, milks and even a DIY detox plan.

The visuals are fun, photographic ingredient illustrations and while I prefer keep my garlic and leek consumption to stir fries and soups, pretty much everything else — from a Blueberry, Kale and Pear Smoothie to an Inslata (Beet, Lemon, Radish, Cucumber, Green Pepper, Celery) Juice — has my mouth watering.

Looks like it’s time to pull the juicer out and see how good that yet-unused blender attachment is at grinding up greens… Green Smoothies* is published by Hachette and is available in paperback or e-book.

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There are bouquets and there are bouquets, and while I’d much prefer a bouquet of flours over one of flowers a bouquet of new-season Aussie Asparagus* is a pretty good gift!

Asparagus is one of the first signs that spring has sprung and most of Australia’s spears grow in cool-climate Victoria. The season is short so keep an eye out for it while it’s around — and make sure to trim the bases and store the bunches in the fridge in a few inches of water to keep them fresh.

Oh, and for pete’s sake, for the rest of the year please avoid the imported stuff from South America because seasons exist for a reason and there is plenty else to eat that doesn’t travel a million miles just so we can eat tasteless out of season produce in the middle of winter. [End soapbox]

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Finally replenished my stash of Penzeys Vietnamese Cinnamon when I was in Americaland. With an extra high oil percentage this cinnamon is what cinnamon flavoured things taste like, really. I ration it like gold, spicy, spicy gold.

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Farm-gates and family

When we got to Philly my sister-in-law first asked for chocolate cake and then requested I do something with all the green things my brother was growing in the backyard and packing into the fridge. I was more than happy to oblige.

All the green things equals pesto, always. And so it was that kale, broccoli leaves, collards and cabbage went into a processor with garlic, olive oil and sea salt. Dinner that evening was bottom-of-the-all-the-boxes gf pasta with all-the-green-things-from-the-garden pesto. The rest of the pesto was frozen in cubes for later.

We not only ate cake for breakfast (my 3 yo niece wondered why I was taking photos of cake on the dining room floor, my sis-in-law didn’t even blink) but the leftover Vegan Chocolate Frosting was spread on waffles. Yes ma’am.

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Taught everyone to make veggie sushi — so easy, really, and you can put whatever you want in it. Ms. G ate it like it was candy, Ms S gummed her way through a steamed pumpkin stick like a champ.

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Western New York in the summer equals farm stands, lots and lots of farm stands. I made the most of it, including twice walking 20 minutes up and 20 minutes down the most boring road ever to combine holiday exercise with freshly picked blueberries.

It was with one bite that I knew why my mom refuses to eat corn from the grocery store… Saying that this is what real food tastes like sounds presumptuous but just-picked local fruit and veg simply reinforces how tasteless mass-produced million-mile produce is.

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Fresh produce however does not equal bread without preservatives/soy/chemicals/et al so I made some — using my Whole Wheat No-Knead Bread recipe as a base and adding in some rye for good measure.

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Swiss Chard bouquet for breakfast — and how great is the old window frame garden bed!

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Went to down to the pasture to pet horses, discovered a bush with the best blackberries I’ve ever eaten. Everybody wins.

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Barn cats are not allowed in the house, no matter how insanely adorable they are. This however did not stop them from mewing at me through the kitchen door. Can’t decide if being a kitten jungle gym fixed the fix or made it worse!

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And with that I leave you with a window in my grandmother’s kitchen. It is one of my favourite little corners in the world.

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That’s all folks

Make sure to pop over to check out the other IMK posts — there is always great stuff.

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* Asterisked items were gifted to me for editorial consideration in accordance with my editorial policy. All opinions are fully my own. Supercalafragalisticexpialadoshus. Beam me up Scotty.